Art What!: Beijing Artist Wu Qiong to Hold His First Virtual Solo Exhibition with Ode to Art

Beijing-based artist Wu Qiong is revealing his studio for the first time ever to the public with a virtual solo exhibition titled Inside the Creative Space of Wu Qiong. Featuring 15 new, never-been-seen art pieces, the solo exhibition will be held live on 26th May at 8pm on Ode to Art’s Facebook page, offering viewers a rare glimpse into Wu Qiong’s creative space where the 39 year-old works on his creative pursuit of paintings and sculptures.

The intimate session will allow viewers to get to know the man behind the artworks, with a focus on the processes involved when creating and his source of inspiration and creativity. He will also be showcasing his latest artworks featuring 7 paintings and 8 sculptures before ending the session with a brief demonstration on how to sculpt using Play-Doh and a painting demonstration. These artworks, a continuation from his series Born in 1980s and Fairy Tales in the Wind, depict a couple holding hands in some pieces and a lone tattooed boy in others, all with iconic expressions – childlike faces upturned, eyes closed, mouth agape.

Wu Qiong as a sculptor and painter, creates touching and amusing portraits shaped by his personal experiences and memorable anecdotes. Charting different settings, the couple in his paintings seems more mature, calm, and meditative, with a state of being in the moment instead of searching for something more. The couple’s journey is closely tied to Mother Nature, inciting an emotional reconnection that may be profoundly therapeutic. Wu Qiong’s paintings do not have a fixed narrative; the artist believes that viewers are able to create their own narrative and form an emotional bond with the painting based on their personal experiences.

With Wu Qiong’s last solo exhibition in Singapore in 2015, the artist and Ode to Art had plans to hold a solo exhibition in Ode to Art gallery at the end of 2020. They decided to bring the exhibition online and straight into the homes of viewers through Facebook Live due to the current COVID-19 circumstances. This Facebook Live Solo Exhibition tracks the adaptability of Ode to Art as a physical gallery to conducting virtual exhibitions as well. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and implementation of Circuit Breaker, the gallery which is situated in Raffles City Shopping Centre, has promptly transitioned to a digital platform and has been engaging art collectors and art lovers alike with initiatives such as the recently held Covid-19 Art Charity Live Auction, Live Painting Session with artists, and a colouring competition held over Mother’s Day.

Inside the Creative Space of Wu Qiong takes place on 26th May 2020 at 8pm at on Ode to Art’s Facebook page